Prehistoric humans preserved animal tissues for future consumption in a Qesem (Israel)

Spanish researchers have found evidence of accumulated and conserved food for its posterior consumption that was dated 400.000 years old. The main animal tissue found in these pantries was mainly animal bone marrow. The bone marrow was specially preserved as it has high levels of fatty acids. Until now, its consumption was thought to be instantaneous.

This is an important finding as it is the oldest food conservation process now until today. It has always been thought that Paleolithic hunters lived day by day, consuming directly the food and surviving periods of hunger. However, this means that could think about the future, not only about “here and now”. The conservation process consisted on preserving the bone together with the skin, that is to say, without ripping off the skin. They could break the bone and eat the core of the bone whenever they needed, even weeks after hunting the animal.

Bone marrow after six weeks of preservation (Blasco R., 2019)

This conclusions were obtained after evaluating the preservation of deer bone marrow, controlling the exposition to different environmental parameters, and carrying out chemical analysis. The results showed a lower degradation rate of the fat tissue in the first nine weeks.

Source of the new: https://www.abc.es/ciencia/abci-descubren-primera-despensa-humanidad-medula-osea-hace-400000-anos-201910100226_noticia.html

Article: Blasco, R., Rosell, J., Arilla, M., Margalida, A., Villalba, D., Gopher, A., & Barkai, R. (2019). Bone marrow storage and delayed consumption at Middle Pleistocene Qesem Cave, Israel (420 to 200 ka). Science Advances, 5(10), eaav9822. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aav9822